WHEN it decided to shut down 3,000 of its 9,000 post offices, Royal Mail must have known the strategy would cause some consternation.

So rather than simply going ahead and making closures willy-nilly, bosses decided to put the matter out to public consultation.

In East Lancashire alone, some 27 urban post offices are earmarked for closure in a bid to ensure the remainder can operate as viable businesses.

We have already heard campaign groups, set up to protect their post offices, saying they have felt ignored, and that Royal Mail hasn't really listened to their concerns.

Now Royal Mail has gone and made a real mockery of the whole consultation process.

Residents in the Whitebirk area of Blackburn have called a public meeting about the planned closure of their counter.

And efforts to get representatives from from Royal Mail to show up have fallen on deaf ears. The bosses are just too busy.

How can Royal Mail say it is listening, then turn down the request from Whitebirk and Intack Residents' Association to attend its meeting?

In a reply to the group, as well as turning down the invitation, Royal Mail point out the Whitebirk branch struggled to make a profit. It sounds to us - and the residents of Whitebirk - like a decision has already been made. Little wonder, then, that the residents feel they are powerless to stop the closure, despite being given the opportunity to consult.